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Bagan, Mandalay Region · 21.1717°, 94.8677°
The masterpiece among Bagan's 3,500+ monuments — a whitewashed Greek-cross temple crowned with a gilded sikhara, holding four 9.5 m standing Buddhas of the present aeon. The Kassapa image's smile changes with the viewer's distance — grave up close, radiant from afar. Restored with Indian ASI collaboration after the 2016 earthquake; Bagan entered the UNESCO list in 2019.
What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.
Eight monks from India described to Kyanzittha the Himalayan cave-temple of Nandamula; entranced, he built its likeness — then, the chronicle says, had the architect killed so it could never be duplicated: Bagan's dark parable of singular beauty.
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-26 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Pagan
Answers only from cited records
Opening the line…